Like any homeowner, I get tons of junk mail from all kinds of companies trying to hawk various loan options. By far, the most common offer is an attempt to sell me on a 30-year loan, at a low APR of course.

Really? Given that I’m on a 15-year loan currently (I suppose the companies sending out their propaganda mailers don’t have this information), why in the world would I want to move onto a 30-year term? I imagine that there are reasons that this appeals to other people, but it’s a complete waste of my time to even consider it. To the recycle bin these mailers quickly go. Emily and I are hoping to pay off the home as soon as possible, not as late as possible.

Sometimes they list their options for a new 15-year loan. Now we’re closer to what might interest me. However, it still never interested me.

Why? Because I’m primarily interested in paying off my house as soon as possible, whereas the target customer of these ads would seem to be someone looking to postpone paying off their house for as long as possible. Again, I am aware that most people are probably in that boat and that my household is the exception.

Last month, however, I finally got a piece of refi junk mail that caught my attention. “What did this magical mailer say?”, inquiring minds want to know. Well, it displayed several refinancing options, all of which were based on a 15-year base term and different payment options. Now, this mailer came from CitiMortgage, my current mortgage holder, so they already knew I was on a 15-year term.

Option one was to reset the 15-year term at a lower APR. Still not interested. This still postpones the payoff date.

Option two was to save $74 a month and keep the same overall payoff date. Hmm, now we’re talking. That piqued my curiosity.

Option three was to keep the same monthly payment, but pay off the house 11 months earlier. Wow! That’s something I can get on board with. Now I’m actually interested enough to get a hold of my mortgage guy and see what he can do.

Not that I’m old enough to have worked with a variety of mortgage guys, but the one I have right now is Marty Qualls, and he’s pretty astute at understanding my needs and determining whether certain refinancing options are helpful for meeting those needs. He laughs when he tells me that 9 out of 10 of the people he helps are lured by the very same loan options that repelled me, but that the oddball types seem to be more interested in paying their homes off early.

So, as it turns out, I’m refinancing my home to a lower APR, keeping the same monthly payment, and paying off the home about 10 months earlier. That sounds like a pretty good deal to me. Emily and I will hopefully finish off the mortgage around the time our oldest kid is approaching junior high age, which will open up our options to consider future decisions to meet the needs of our family.

Perhaps companies that dump millions of dollars into mailers should better consider whether they’re neglecting a certain percentage of potential customers that are interested in early payoffs.